Beauty of A Bad Idea

Global Citizen Year founder and CEO, Abby Falik, was featured on the latest episode of Masters of Scale, now the #1 business podcast in the world! The week’s episode, Beauty of A Bad Idea, featuresTristan Walker (CEO of Walker & Company) with cameos from Kathryn Minshew (Daily Muse) , Kara Goldin (Hint Water), David Hornik (August Capital), Josh Kopelman (First Round Capital) and Abby, talking about how they heard a chorus of “no’s” before they started hearing yes.

14:55 HOFFMAN: So you have to gird yourself for a string of rejections. Some entrepreneurs simply develop a thick skin. Others treat it like a normal part of their workday. You know, wake up, brush your teeth, listen to people crush your dreams. It’s a living.

But there’s another, more hopeful approach. Our producer, Dan Kedmey, talked with a number of entrepreneurs who pitched seemingly laughable ideas in all kinds of industries. Like Abby Falik, founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year. Her not-for-profit sends students abroad for a year of international service between high school and college. Back in 2008, she was struggling to get funding, and she turned to a leadership coach for advice. We asked her to share that advice.

ABBY FALIK: He said that the nos are actually a gift.

HOFFMAN: You heard that right, a gift.

FALIK: And he said between now and when we talk two weeks from now. I want you to go out into the world and gather as many nos as you possibly can. It is your homework to be rejected over and over and over and over over and come back and report on it. And it ended up being the most important thing I could have ever done and the most important advice I could have been given at that point.

HOFFMAN: The most successful entrepreneurs listen closely to the “No”s. They mine their rejections for clues.